Swansea store fined for out of date goods

A Swansea city centre food store, specialising in the sale of international foods, has been fined thousands of pounds for selling out of date food.

Trading Standards Officers in Swansea Council inspected Swansea Food Centre, High Street, in November 2020 and found 50 items of food in the store’s reduced price section, all having expired. One item was found to be 41 days out of date.

A close inspection of the food items also found reduced price stickers had been placed over the original expiry date on the packaging.

Further visits to the store by officers in January and September 2021 found further items also out of date and were discovered after the business owner had been formally interviewed by trading standards officers in April 2021.

Mr Yalcin Ozmus, owner of Swansea Food Centre (Kismetim Ltd) pleaded guilty to a series of offences relating to the Food Safety Act at Swansea Magistrates on Tuesday 25 January.

He was fined a total of £18,000 and ordered to pay £2,444 costs along with a victim surcharge of £190.

David Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Delivery & Operations, welcomed the actions by Trading Standards.

Cllr Hopkins, said: “Food businesses in our city have a responsibility to ensure the goods they sell are safe for customers to consume. It’s completely unacceptable for a business to continue to sell out of date food, particularly when the business has had repeated visits and provided with advice on food sales practices.

“We provide plenty of advice and help to food businesses on a regular basis and most, thankfully, conduct business in a safe manner, which does not put consumers at risk of serious food poisoning.

“I’m confident this latest action sends out a message to businesses across the city to have proper measures in place to ensure they comply with food safety regulations.”

(Lead image: Swansea Council)